Abstract
Most transition studies are historical in nature and fail to arrive at prospective conclusions about future potential. In this paper we develop a new prospective transition framework, which revolves around the interplay between business models and socio-technical contexts. By looking at the dynamics of increasing returns, industry structure and the role of institutions, we analyze the upscaling potential of innovative bike sharing business models as introduced in Dutch cities over the past ten years (two-way station-based, one-way station-based, one-way free floating, and peer-to-peer sharing). We find that station-based business models are well institutionalized but harder to scale up, while the recent one-way free-floating model has the greatest scaling potential if institutional adaptations and geo-fencing technologies are successfully implemented. Peer-to-peer sharing is likely to remain a niche with special purpose bikes.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1300-1312 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Journal of Cleaner Production |
| Volume | 195 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2018 |
Funding
This work is carried out within the Smart Cycling Futures project ( http://smartcyclingfutures.nl ). The financial support from NWO (project number 438-15-160 397 ) is gratefully acknowledged. We would like to thank participants from the 8th International Sustainability Transitions conference in Gothenburg (June 2017) and the NTNU Transitions to Sustainable Systems conference in Trondheim (October 2017) for feedback on earlier versions of this paper. Appendix Table 3 Interview protocol Table 3 Concepts Guiding interview questions About the company When is the company established and by whom? What was the motivation? What is your background and experience? Where are you active and why? Business model Value proposition What value is delivered and to whom? Profit formula How does the company create value while providing value for the customer? What are costs and revenues? Key processes What processes are needed to deliver value? What are key activities? Key resources What resources are needed to deliver value? How is the company financed? Industry structure What is the current status and size of the company? Who do you view as your competitors? Are you engaged in partnerships? What is their experience? Institutions Formal What kind of formal, rules, regulations and procedures you deal with? What is your view on local policy with regard to bike sharing? How do you meet rules? How can the development of bike sharing be supported? What are barriers? Informal What norms and (public) values are linked to your company? What is your view on the public bike sharing debate? What habits or cognitive frames are supporting or hindering the development of bike sharing? Table 4 Key characteristics of bike services Table 4 System Established Introduction in NL Business model Description Ownership structure Bike ownership Bikes & users Locations Funding Interviewee + date OV-Fiets 2004 2004 Two-way station-based System linked to the national train system. Focus on last mile transport. Since 2008 owned by NS (provider of rail services) and Prorail (exploitation of infrastructure) (government owned by Dutch state) Company owned 14500 bikes available (end 2017) 2400000 rides per year 300 + Dutch train stations Public funding used for upscaling this system (e.g. Provincie Noord-Brabant invested in 2017 in OV-fiets at local stations) Project manager 27-April 2017 KeoBike 2016 2016 Two-way station-based System linked to regional bus system. Focus last mile transport in rural areas Owned by Sytus (regional bus company), a subsidiary of Keolis, a French public transport company Company owned 240 bikes 20 locations in villages at the Veluwe and province of Utrecht Budget was created from savings on public transport (bus). Public transport is subsidized by the province. Project manager 12-April-2017 Donkey Republic 2016 201 One-way station-based System using designated zones to take and drop bikes. Based on digital lock, GPS, smartphone and geo-fencing. Focus on local city transport Private company Owned by company or local bike rental partner 450 bikes Amsterdam Rotterdam Private investors, public funding (e.g. EU and local) Co-founder 3-Sept-2017 Hopperpoint 2015 2015 One-way station-based Automated bike sharing system using fixed docking-stations focusing on the business market (employers, businesses, municipalities). System also open to incidental private users. Private company and partnership with company specialized in bike parking infrastructure Company owned 50 bikes, 1000 users, 8 docking stations Eindhoven Tilburg Province of Brabant provided 50% of initial investments in the system (€800.000) Co-director 3-April 2017 HelloBike 2016 2016 One-way station-based System using designated zones to take and drop bikes. Based on digital lock, GPS, smartphone and geo-fencing. Focus on business. Subsidiary of The Bikevertisement Company (a private company linking cycling to advertisement) Company owned 500 bikes Amsterdam (Zuid-As business district) Municipal investments, companies at Zuidas and national subsidy Managing director 1-Feb-2017 Spinlister 2011 2016 Two-way free-floating (peer-to-peer) Platform for rental of private (special purpose) bikes. Private company Bikes owned by users N.A. Global – www.spinlister.com Listnride 2017 Two-way free-floating (peer-to-peer) Platform for rental of private (special purpose) bikes. Private company Bikes owned by users N.A. Global – www.listnride.com FlickBike 2017 2017 One-way free-floating System using designated zones to take and drop bikes. Based on digital lock, GPS, smartphone and geo-fencing. Focus on local city transport Private company Company owned 1000 bikes Amsterdam Private investors Founder 27-Sept-2017 Ofo 2014 2017 One-way free-floating System that allows to take and drop bike anywhere. Focus on local city transport. Private company, backed by technology companies Company owned Plan to start Global Venture capital Country manager 23-Aug-2017 Mobike 2016 2017 One-way free-floating System that allows to take and drop bike anywhere. Focus on local city transport. Private company, backed by technology companies Company owned Started with 150 bikes Rotterdam Venture capital Advisor 15-2-2018
Keywords
- Bike service innovation
- Bike sharing
- Business model
- Socio-technical transitions
- Technology assessment
